Alleged Victim Of Former Rabbi Marc Gafni Tells Her Story

Judy says that she met Rabbi Mordechai Winiarz, also known as Marc Gafni, when she was 15 years old. She says she used to stay at his home on the weekends to help his wife prepare for the Sabbath, and looked to the couple as “surrogate parents.”

However, Judy claims that Gafni betrayed her trust when he began to engage with her inappropriately.

“He walked into my bedroom and he just said to me, ‘You look like you needed a hug today.’ I was very taken aback by this because in the Orthodox Jewish community, women don’t touch men until they’re married, at all,” Judy claims. “He reached around to hug me and he wound up on top of me because we were in the bed. Then he went under my nightgown, and I said, ‘No,’ and I pushed him off.”

Judy claims that Gafni said it would never happen again but two days later, she claims he got into bed with her and they both ended up naked. “He proceeded to have me touch him ... it was a horrific experience,” Judy says. “ We went for a walk during which he literally tried to convince me it never happened. Then when he realized that wasn’t going to fly, it changed into threats: ‘You’re going to be discredited and you won’t be believed. I’m the rabbi, you’re the kid. This has to remain a secret.’”